American Beauty

Artists, scholars, and activists Drs. Emily Socolov, Honoree Jeffers, Pippa Holloway, and Alison Kanosky talk real-life and history about voting, the soul of democracy.

Alison Kanosky (CSU Fullerton) on how concerns about safety and security impact our democracy; Pippa Holloway (Middle Tennessee State University) on histories of voter enfranchisement and disfranchisement; and Dr. Honoree Jeffers (University of Oklahoma) on a poet’s view of voter mobilization in African-American communities and what it teaches us about democracy.

Does worrying about fraud, bots, and Facebook get to the heart of strengthening democracy? Beyond the numbers games, and the winners, and losers, what’s at stake in getting out the vote? Emily Socolov, election protection activist, explains.

Dr. Alondra Nelson, Dr. Pat Zavella, and Dr. Liz Hoover take us into the deeper roots and dimensions of self-care, with important lessons from the Black Panther Party, Latinx health advocates, and the indigenous food sovereignty movement.

Where does our idea of “self-care” come from? How does “self-care” support or distract us from the work of democracy and community engagement? A conversation with Gretchen Mallios, a therapist who has rebuilt her practice for our times.

Nicole--Black, Ph.D. holder, fully employed, and broke--talks honestly with Dr. Lynn Itagaki about how the shame around debt impacts American politics and how millennial are rethinking the middle-class dream.

How did we get here? Professors Karen Salt, Mehrsa Baradaran, and Lynn Itagaki explain histories of debt in America, the racial / gender wealth gap, and the new political reality of the “debtor-citizen.”

What does the history of debt in the United States teach us about our democracy? What does debt, denial, and shame mean to our politics? Nicole, an African-American woman who is the first in her family to attend college and now holds a Ph.D., breaks it down.

What does our national history with addictions tell us about our democracy? Professors Caroline Jean Acker and Susan Mizruchi and artist Jamea Richmond Edwards on addiction as an American story.

How do we make sense of addiction and other health crises in our communities? What does our national history with addictions tell us about our democracy? Interview with Polly, pediatric public health nurse in a rural California community hit hard by opioids and daughter of an addict.

Historians Danielle McGuire and Sharon Block and Pastor MarySue Brookshire talk about what we've learned from #metoo and where we need to go next--including talking to our sons and daughters and the men in our lives.

After the Kavanaugh hearings, where do we go next with #metoo? What can we learn from history? Drs. Sharon Block and Danielle McGuire, as well as cultural historian Dr. Daphne Brooks, draw lessons from American history and activism by African-American women.

In the wake of the Kavanaugh nomination and hearings, what now? How to address the issues #metoo and #believesurvivors have surfaced? What can we learn from our histories—individual and collective, and how do we move into a new relationship with the reality of pervasive sexual harassment, humiliation, abuse, and violence?

Professors Shirley Moody-Turner, Kim Bassford, and Regis Fox on what Anna Julia Cooper, Patsy Mink, and other American women of color leaders can teach us about what it means to wake up and do the work of democracy--for the long haul.

Shannon Bradley in conversation with Professors Regis Fox and Kim Blassford on what it means to do the long haul work of democracy.

Do you worry democracy is in danger, but don't know what to do? Shannon Bradley left a job she loved to work full time in voter turnout for the 2018 midterms. Her story of waking up, turning anxiety into activism, and letting the work change us.

How would our politics change if we actual had space to sort through historical trauma? A conversation with Professors Olivia Chilcote and Monica Casper about anxiety and resilience post-2016. Sponsored by HavenTree and U Minnesota Press.

How do trauma and anxiety impact our politics and democracy? How do we get from resistance to resilience? Professors Monica Casper, Olivia Chilcote, and Cathy Schlund-Vials speak. Sponsored by HavenTree and U Minnesota Press.

"The November 2016 elections brought up difficult issues from my family or personal history. How do I manage my anxiety?" Holocaust survivor Suzanne Salzer Yesk weighs in on trauma, democracy, and what #resist really means.

Featuring Jolie Holland, "Poor Girl's Blues"

Olivia, 15, an intern for the American Beauty podcast, on what's up with democracy and why you should listen and subscribe @ launch on 9/17